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ربيع الأول 17, 1434 | East Asia: Korea

Winter Games PyeongChang Begin

By Mandy Murphy

Lee Myung-Bak, president of the Republic of Korea, declared the games open while holding hands with Special Olympics athletes Sungha Seo, a skater, (left) and Chanmi Kim, a skier.

In the snowy mountains of the Republic of Korea, thousands gathered in the Yongpyong Dome near Alpensia to open the 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games and celebrate what is set to be an incredible week of competitions that will showcase the life-changing power of sport.
More than 100 delegations from around the world participated in the ceremonial parade of athletes in front of a capacity crowd, as they prepared for the Korean “Dream Chorus” themed ceremony which depicted a Korean-culturally inspired beautiful dream of humanity towards co-existence and harmony. Many notable sports and entertainment celebrities including Yuna Kim, Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo and others joined in the celebration. Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye, who will become Korea's first female president, were both in attendance to welcome the more than 2,300 athletes from around the world to the Republic of Korea.